"Speaking of which… during the fight with Orochimaru, I instantly activated Sage Mode to screw him over…"
"For someone like me, the best way to improve Sage Mode is to make full use of every second of it."
"It requires extreme precision and control… but that just happens to be my specialty."
Souma closed his eyes and began experimenting with instant activation and instant release of Sage Mode.
After several trials…
He finally exhaled softly.
Just like the very first time he triggered Sage Mode, the key to both opening and closing it instantly still lay in the head—the threshold where chakra, natural energy, and spirit converge.
If not for his second Bodhi Seed metamorphosis, even he wouldn't be able to control spiritual power and Sage Mode so freely. Instant on/off would be impossible.
But now—
He could precisely manage every strand of natural energy and chakra entering his head.
"…Success."
Still, even with Sage Mode perfected, the power ceiling was roughly Hashirama level.
Not enough.
He had to grow stronger.
"Should I study the Eight Gates?"
The Eight Gates were indeed powerful, but the price was too great, and unless he focused on pure taijutsu, even mastering them would be a one-time trump card.
More importantly—
That violent chakra was impossible to control while sustaining Sage Mode.
He dismissed the idea.
Instead, he turned to another thought:
"…The Seven Heavens Breathing Technique might be worth referencing."
Souma wrote the idea down.
Next research target: a breathing system compatible with chakra and natural energy—a rhythm that could synchronize body, chakra, and nature.
He didn't know the result yet, but it was a direction.
Then came Sage Arts.
Only a handful of his current techniques were suitable for true Sage-Art evolution.
"Gentle Fist and acupuncture techniques will definitely work.
If I reference Kaguya's ability, there may be room for spatial-type enhancements as well."
As for taijutsu…
The best boost would be monster strength.
For ninjutsu, a Sage-Art Rasengan was the simplest path.
Swordsmanship…
He just needed to replace normal chakra with Sage chakra. Simple.
After organizing his notes, Souma realized—
He was already quite strong.
But…
Compared to future enemies, especially those with ocular hax, his greatest advantage remained his spiritual power—resistance to illusions and mental attacks.
"Maybe there's more to develop in the spiritual-energy direction too…"
He was just preparing to experiment with breathing methods when—
KNOCK.
"Yagyū Souma, a message from the ANBU via the kikaichū network."
"ANBU? Let me see."
Oil-Woman Muta handed him a small scroll.
The message was short:
"The Intelligence Division requests assistance."
Souma frowned.
Even Yamanaka Haiichi couldn't handle it?
He thought for a moment, then sighed.
Looks like research would have to wait.
"I'll head to the ANBU base. I won't be back tonight."
"Yes, I'll continue protecting the Research Institute… and training myself."
"You all do need more training. You rely too much on your bugs—
but your own skills can't be dragging behind."
"Y-yes!"
Muta was embarrassed.
Souma could see it clearly—he was dissatisfied with the previous results.
Souma alone had caught Jirōbō.
Yet ANBU + the entire guard unit failed to stop the other three.
Although they didn't lose shamefully, it was… pretty bad.
"I'll prepare new jutsu for you later."
"Yes!"
Intelligence Department
"Lord Haiichi, should we try again?"
"No. His mind is in pieces. Let him rest before we proceed."
Yamanaka Haiichi shook his head.
They had already used Spiritual Synchronization once. With the borrowed mental strength of over a dozen ninjas, they had barely extracted one memory fragment—
Jirōbō had used another incomplete cursed-seal activation the moment before being captured.
He was practically half-dead when Souma delivered him.
Interrogating someone trying to die on purpose was meaningless—
even Ibiki's torture would do nothing.
Another ANBU arrived.
"Lord Haiichi, Lord Ibiki—Yagyū Souma has arrived."
"I'll receive him."
Haiichi hurried out and saw Souma walking in, looking relaxed as usual.
"Souma!"
"Haiichi-senpai, what could trouble you badly enough to call me?"
Haiichi sighed helplessly.
"Jirōbō isn't dead, but… spiritually, he might as well be. Right before your bugs drained him, he triggered his cursed seal with his life force. His spirit is nearly shredded."
Souma nodded.
No wonder.
"Let me guess. You want to extract the memory of their base?"
"Correct."
Souma followed him inside, reading the fragmented memories they had already extracted.
A hideout in the Land of Grass.
Souma instantly recognized it—
the same base where Naruto would later meet Kabuto at Tenchi Bridge.
He exhaled.
"So you want to dig deeper."
"Yes."
Souma joined the mental-synchronization circle and let them perform the technique.
He silently observed the flow of spiritual power, the "frequencies," the points where loss occurred. Then—
With frightening precision—
He synchronized his own spirit to their frequency.
Haiichi's eyes widened.
This child…
Was his spiritual power really something a thirteen-year-old should possess?
No wonder Ino's technique never worked on him.
It wasn't because Ino was weak.
Souma simply overwhelmed her.
Even an ordinary Yamanaka would fail.
Only Haiichi might have a chance.
Then Souma withdrew from the link.
Haiichi asked nervously:
"How is it?"
Souma nodded slowly.
"There is loss. Some of it is unavoidable."
"Is there… any way to reduce it?"
Haiichi was almost pleading.
Souma answered honestly:
"It's impossible to eliminate loss entirely.
No two people have identical spiritual signatures."
Haiichi sank a little.
As expected.
But Souma added—
"However… if it's just a dozen or so people here, I do have a method."
"???"
Ibiki froze.
Haiichi froze.
Everyone froze.
They had misunderstood Souma's earlier words.
Souma sat down, pulled out paper and a pencil, and began writing—
complicated diagrams, patterns, ratios…
Haiichi peeked.
His head hurt instantly.
Was Souma actually… calculating spiritual-frequency alignment?
Haiichi swallowed.
This… this wasn't something humans should be doing.
After a few minutes—
"Done!"
Haiichi quickly said:
"Your calculations are impressive, but the others may not be able to perform them…"
Souma blinked.
"Huh? Oh, you misunderstood. You don't have to do anything.
Just use the technique like before."
"Then… what were you calculating?"
"How to adjust your spiritual power frequencies so I can forcefully stitch them into one cohesive network."
Everyone:
"…?"
Ibiki's mouth twitched violently.
Haiichi stared blankly.
All the Yamanaka present had the same look:
This child is insane.
One person force-adjusting the spiritual frequencies of more than ten others?
Even Haiichi couldn't do that.
Souma looked at their expressions and tilted his head.
"What's wrong?
It won't work the first time. We'll test it, then I'll correct the deviations."
Everyone remained silent for a long, long moment.
Finally—
They collectively realized something:
We and Yagyū Souma are not thinking on the same level.
We're not even playing the same game.
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